Rick Shureih, French's cousin, told the Press-Enterprise in Riverside that French was a 'gentle giant' who had mental disabilities. The officer was the only one who fired shots, striking French and two family members, police said.Īuthorities did not respond Monday to requests for more information about what immediately preceded the shooting and whether anyone but the officer had a weapon. The officer told investigators he opened fire after Kenneth French, 32, of Riverside, attacked him without provocation as the officer held his young child Friday night, according to police in Corona, about 40 miles east of LA. Kenneth French was shot once in the shoulder and three times in the back, while Paola French was shot in the back and her husband was shot in the abdomen, resulting in the loss of a kidney.LOS ANGELES - Authorities are poring through video to figure out how a confrontation between an off-duty Los Angeles police officer and a man described by family as mentally disabled ended in a shooting in a Costco store that killed the man and critically wounded his parents. Store security surveillance tapes showed the victims were backing away from Sanchez when the gunfire erupted.

Then-Corona police Chief George Johnstone said detectives confirmed 10 shots were fired.

Russell and Paola French said they pleaded with Sanchez not to shoot, telling the officer that their son, who had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and was largely nonverbal, had psychiatric trouble. But the victim was not armed, according to police. Tapes from body-worn cameras of Corona police officers who went to the scene captured statements from Sanchez indicating that he initially believed Kenneth French was holding a weapon. “At the time of the incident, he believed he was protecting himself and his baby from being killed,” Winslow said. No one has disputed that, for reasons still unknown, Kenneth French shoved the off-duty lawman to the ground.Īccording to Winslow, Sanchez was dazed, and when he saw his son next to him screaming, he “had no choice but to use deadly force.” The victims were shopping when they approached a food sample table with sausages, where the defendant was also standing, holding his then-18-month-old son. In the summer of 2020, the Los Angeles Police Commission determined the Costco shooting reflected unjustifiable use of force by Sanchez, and he was booted from the police force a month later. He told reporters at the conclusion of the grand jury proceedings that “we had to put our passions and emotions aside and marry the facts with the law.” He denied Sanchez had been favored with “special treatment” because he was a law enforcement officer. The Riverside County District Attorney’s Office in September 2019 took the matter to the 19-member county grand jury, and the jury declined to indict Sanchez.Īfter the DOJ announced its case against Sanchez, District Attorney Mike Hestrin reiterated that “all known and available evidence” had been presented to jurors. A Los Angeles jury in November ruled in favor of the plaintiffs, awarding them $17 million in damages. The family filed a civil suit against the LAPD, the city of Los Angeles and Sanchez at the end of 2019, alleging negligence, civil rights violations and both intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. Kenneth French, 32, was killed, and his parents, Russell and Paola French - all of Corona - were critically wounded. The shooting occurred on the evening of June 14, 2019, inside the Costco at 480 N. Sanchez’s attorney, David Winslow, responded that the state’s case was “a political stunt (rooted in) a politically motivated program by the California attorney general to prosecute police officers.” In announcing the charges against Sanchez last summer, California Attorney General Rob Bonta said that the case was about “pursuing justice” and reaffirming the principle that “nobody is above the law.” A 44-year-old man was shot and killed outside. (Photo by Jennifer Cappuccio Maher, Inland Valley Daily Bulletin/SCNG) NOPD investigators work the scene of a fatal shooting at the Costco in New Orleans on Sunday, Feb. Former LAPD Officer Salvador Sanchez was charged with voluntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Kenneth French, left, and assault with a firearm in the wounding of his wounded parents, Paola and Russell in the Costco in Corona in 2019.

Man killed in costco corona suspect